Watch one of the historical Turkish streets before and after the earthquakes

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Officials said shortly after the earthquakes that at least 80 percent of all buildings in Antakya would need to be demolished. Across Turkey, more than 50,000 people have died and more than 1.5 million people have been displaced.

The destruction on Saray Street is just a fraction of all that has been lost in the Old City. It was the starting point of Antioch – bringing the population together to eat, shop, gather and pray.

A video clip of Serail Street before the earthquakes showing shops and customers during the holiday season.

Saray Street, December 2022. Albert Sener

Narrow streets such as Saray dead-end with some of the best restaurants in the area serving local cuisine and sweet treats, such as kunafa, a sweet cheese pastry. It was “Antakya’s gastronomy market,” said Yuksel, who co-owns Baroudi Café.

Not far from Saray, Kurtulus Street is another earthquake-damaged mall. It stretches for about a mile, and has many shops, restaurants, and hotels.

Besides shops and restaurants, the ancient city housed some of the most important and oldest religious and cultural institutions. Among the now-vanished places that may never be recovered: the Protestant Church in Antakya. the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch; The Antakya Synagogue and the Habibi Naqar Mosque, which is one of the first mosques in the Anatolia region, a region that extends across most of Turkey.

Damaging or destroying a historical or cultural landmark

A map showing the boundaries of the ancient city and naming the cultural monuments that were damaged or destroyed. Institutions such as the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Synagogue of Antioch, and the Habibi Nekar Mosque are classified.

former

Parliament

Hatay

Greek Orthodox

Antioch Church

Antioch

Protestantism

church

former

Parliament

Hatay

Greek Orthodox

Antioch Church

Antioch

Protestantism

church

former

Parliament

Hatay

Greek Orthodox

Antioch Church

Antioch

Protestantism

church

former

Parliament

Hatay

Greek Orthodox

Antioch Church

Antioch

Protestantism

church

Scott Reinhard

Many residents and business owners took great pride in the Old City’s multicultural alliances and embrace of various cultures.

“Here, there is a church, there is a mosque, and there is a synagogue,” said Ozgur Aksevin, 34, who owns Eva Lounge Cafe, which serves live music, near Saray Street. “In society, we are Armenians, Christians, Muslims and Jews. We are all human beings.”

When the church bell rang, Mr. Akseeven said, his parlour would stop music, and everyone would stop drinking for about 45 minutes to show respect.

Mr. Akseeven, who returned to retrieve his motorbike from the rubble in late February, spoke of his family’s connection to the neighborhood. “Even my father’s father has some memories here. This is the real history,” he said, adding that “Antakya’s identity was erased” with the earthquakes.

For Dr. Eraslan, the ancient city was an important place that she visited often with her family. “It was good before,” she said, “but we didn’t understand until we lost our city, how important it was to us.”

But Antakya, formerly called Antioch, is no stranger to disaster. Since birth, she has rebuilt herself over and over again, appearing resilient each time.

“Society always came back stronger from every disaster,” said Andrea U. DeGiorgi, author of Antioch: A History and professor of classical studies at Florida State University.

Rebuilding and restoring all that was lost in the ancient city could take many years.

“We have a long way to go,” said Deniz Ozturk, a restoration expert and volunteer working on the grounds in Antakya.

Right now, what was once a vibrant part of the old city remains desolate and sits eerily empty.

The video footage from a drone overflight begins with a precise shot of the damage to the Shahout Hotel and zooms out to reveal the extent of the devastation in Saray Street and the Old City.

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